Friday, 1 February 2013

''If men don't like the construction industry, why would women?”

In the latest in a series
of questions asked by Becky we will address “If men don't like the construction
industry, why would women?” Here we will consider how the industry treats its
employees generally and why it should be attractive as an industry. In order to
do this I will focus on the average construction; worker a middle-aged white
man.

If you would like further
reasoning on why women should seek such a career, in addition to these comments,
please have a look at the first blog and other blogs in this series.

Firstly, let’s acknowledge
that “if men don’t like construction” is a bit of a generalisation; at the moment we are
in the middle of a difficult economic climate (as if you hadn't noticed) and
unfortunately, it looks like construction is one of the sectors that has been
hit the hardest (workplace employment relations study 2011) so it’s bound to seem like people are unhappy
here.

However, it should be recognised
that some of the things that make the industry great have gotten a little out
of hand and can now be the very things that become off-putting. I have listed
some examples below and shall talk about two in full.

Large number of small firms in industry; suicide
bidding

Ability to rise through the ranks; glass
ceilings

High self-employment; false self-employment

Opportunity to progress quickly; project-based
work

Varied and challenging work; long hours culture

The craic; the pressure to conform

Responsibility; expectation of men

Travel; transient work

If
you would like me to elaborate on other areas in a separate blog please do let
me know. But for now: -

High self-employment; false self-employment

Positive:
-

High
self-employment - Construction is a sector where you can be your own boss, work
your own hours and charge your own rates.

Obviously
it’s become harder; where there was a massive demand for bricklayers
previously, there are now estimated to be five for every job as a result of new
building methods and the recession.

Nonetheless
though, especially when times are good, it gives you the freedom to work
flexibly. Bricklayers, steel fixers and other skilled trades often work this
way.

Negative:
-

False
self-employment – this is where some people realised they could take advantage;
by taking on people as self-employed subcontractors but treating them as
employees.

This
means that whilst they have to work the days and the hours dictated to them,
they do not get holiday benefits, the right to a tribunal, or any of the other
protections the law gives to employed staff.

In
the very worst cases this method can be used to pay people less than minimum
wage.

Solution:
-

I’ve
often heard that this is a situation welcomed by the workforce and whilst I
would agree that skilled trades benefit from this arrangement (though it could
be argued that the Exchequer does not, with an estimated loss of £1.9billion per annum)
it’s the unskilled trades that worry me.

In
my time on site I spoke to a number of ground workers, concrete slab gangs and
general labourers who felt they were being taken advantage of but had no other
option than to stay put for many reasons
including; lack of qualifications, need for a a steady wage and illiteracy.

We
need to be aware of this as an industry; it drives down prices so firms paying
a fair wage and treating employees with respect are driven out of business.

The
solution is for main contractors to be more aware and to investigate the
organisations they are working with.

As
one main contractor put it, “on my last job we subcontracted the concrete and
labour for less than we could buy the materials alone with our own privileged
discount from the same supplier. We really should have looked into that”.

The Craic; pressure to conform

Positive: -

Some parts of construction site culture I love; the camaraderie,
the banter, the general understanding that we are all going to be experiencing
the same British weather whilst trying to build a building for less money than
it costs, with less time than it takes, for longer hours than we are paid for,
so we might as well try and have a bit of fun doing it.

Any attack on the “craic”, in its purest form, I will not
let go unchallenged as it builds teams, makes the day enjoyable and gives us a
sense of identity – put simply, it rocks.

Negative: -

Unfortunately some people chose to use site banter to bully,
oppress humiliate and belittle their colleagues not only for their own
amusement but also to cement their position in a given group. If you don’t find
it funny you don’t have a sense of humour, your not one of the lads, you just don’t
get “it”

I personally don’t buy this excuse, mainly because if I ever
raise objection to something said in a group, the other members usually have
come up to me and said something along the lines of “I agree with what you said.
Sorry I didn't say so earlier, it’s just you know, you have to go along with it”.

In my experience though, it’s never “the lads” that think
its ok it’s usually one lad who everyone else is agreeing with to avoid an
argument.

It seems the more a group looks the same the more we feel we
have to fit in with a stereotype and unfortunately the one placed upon
construction could do with a bit of an overhaul.

Solution: -

99% of the people (of which on site about 99% were men) I
have met working on site were polite, respectful folk who just wanted to do
their job, maybe have a laugh and get paid. 1% wanted to stir up trouble,
create controversy and make people feel bad about themselves.

I believe you will find this in any workplace. I think
construction differs because we don’t stop it. We think everyone else agrees
with that one git and so it’s therefore not just OK to go along with the
behaviour but would, in fact, be bad for us personally if we didn't.

I
think the solution to improving this misplaced belief is to stand up to people
who think it’s funny to reinforce this negative stereotype; we need to make it ok to say I’m a builder and I’m proud of that; what you’re saying might make
people think badly of us all, so give it a rest and try and find something
that’s actually funny to say.

So, I suppose the answer is that whilst there are reasons to
dislike the sector there are also reasons to love it. It needs a bit of help in
its approach to people which is something that is being considered strategically
as we speak; but the people in it also need to play their part by not allowing
others to drag our industry down just because they don’t respect others. Saying
“I build things” should make people ask “How? What? Where?” not say “Oh right”,
as they try not to be patronising.